Wanderers
by 45yellowfang3
Summary: Snowflake's life is perfect. Well, almost perfect. Except the fact that her brother, Firestar leads a clan of wild forest cats, and her mate's haunted by a dark past, and oh yeah, there's also bloodthirsty dog, a skunk with anger issues, a fox... hmm... maybe life isn't so perfect. Either way, Snowflake was living the dream until a strange dream turns her world upside down forever.
1. Allegiances

I do not own warriors. Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter. This story is fanfiction. Nothing that happens in this book happens in the warriors series.

Allegiances

ThunderClan

Leader: Firestar-ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt

Deputy: Graystripe-long-haired gray tom

Medicine Cat: Cinderpelt-dark gray she-cat

Apprentice, Leafpaw

Warriors:

Mousefur-small dusky brown she-cat

Apprentice, Spiderpaw

Dustpelt-dark brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Squirrelpaw

Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat

Cloudtail-long-haired white tom

Brackenfur-golden brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Whitepaw

Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Shrewpaw

Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches

Brambleclaw-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Ashfur-pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes

Rainwhisker-dark gray tom with blue eyes

Sootfur-lighter gray tom with amber eyes

Sorreltail-tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes

Queens:

Goldenflower-pale ginger coat, the oldest nursery queen

Ferncloud-pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat, green eyes

Elders:

Frostfur-beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes

Speckletail-pale tabby she-cat

Longtail-pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing site

ShadowClan

Leader: Blackstar-large white tom with huge jet-black paws

Deputy: Russetfur-dark ginger she-cat

Medicine Cat: Littlecloud-very small tabby tom

Warriors:

Oakfur-small brown tom

Apprentice, Smokepaw

Cedarheart-dark gray tom

Rowanclaw-ginger she-cat

Apprentice, Talonpaw

Nightwing-black she-cat

Tawnypelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Queens:

Tallpoppy-long-legged light brown tabby she-cat

Elders:

Runningnose-small gray and white tom, formerly the medicine cat

Boulder-skinny gray tom

WindClan

Leader: Tallstar-elderly black-and-white tom with a very long tail

Deputy: Mudclaw-mottled dark brown tom

Apprentice, Crowpaw

Medicine Cat: Barkface-short-tailed brown tom

Warriors:

Tornear-tabby tom

Webfoot-dark gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Weaselpaw

Onewhisker-brown tabby tom

Robinwing-light brown she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice, Thistlepaw

Queens:

Ashfoot-gray queen

Whitetail-small white she-cat

Elders:

Morningflower-tortoiseshell she-cat

Oatwhisker-creamy brown tabby tom

RiverClan

Leader: Leopardstar-unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

Deputy:Mistyfoot-gray she-cat with blue eyes

Medicine Cat: Mudfur-long-haired light brown tom

Apprentice, Mothwing-dappled golden she-cat

Warriors:

Blackclaw-smoky black tom

Apprentice, Volepaw

Heavystep-thickset tabby tom

Apprentice, Stonepaw

Stormfur-dark gray tom with amber eyes

Hawkfrost-dark brown tom with a white underbelly and ice blue eyes

Swallowtail-dark brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Splashpaw

Queens:

Mosspelt-tortoiseshell she-cat

Dawnflower-pale gray she-cat

Elders:

Shadepelt-very dark gray she-cat

Loudbelly-dark brown tom

Skyclan

Leader:

Leafstar -brown-and-cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes (mother to Billystorm's kits: Harrykit, Stormkit and Firekit)

Deputy:

Sharpclaw - dark ginger tom

Apprentice, Egg

Medicine Cat:

Echosong - silver tabby she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Frecklewish

Warriors:

Patchfoot - black-and-white tom

Petalnose - pale gray she-cat

Apprentice, Sagepaw

Sparrowpelt - dark brown tabby tom

Cherrytail - tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Waspwhisker - gray-and-white tom

Apprentice, Mintpaw

Shrewtooth - skinny black tom

Ebonyclaw - striking black she-cat

Billystorm - ginger-and-white tom

Harveymoon - white tom

Macgyver - black-and-white tom

Rockshade - black tom (Clovertail's son)

Bouncefire - ginger tom (Clovertail's son)

Tinycloud - small white she-cat (Clovertail's daughter)

Rabbitleap - brown tom

Creekfeather - gray tabby tom

Nettlesplash - pale brown tom

Plumwillow - dark gray she-cat

Fallowfern - pale brown she-cat

Queens:

Clovertail - light brown she-cat with white belly and legs (mother to Patchfoot's kits: Honeykit, Sandykit, and Birdkit)

Elders:

Lichenfur - gray mottled she-cat

Tangle - ragged tabby tom, loner

Cats Outside The Clans

Bluemoon - blue-grey tom with ice-blue eyes

Snowflake - long-haired white she-cat with amber eyes

Princess - light brown tabby with a white chest and paws

Sol - brown-and-tortoiseshell long-haired tom with pale yellow eyes


	2. Into The Basement

The white she-cat sat on the fence and watched as the tabby cat said goodbye to the lean tom. "Bye Firestar," said the tabby cat, "Say hello to Cloudtail for me."

"Ok, I will. Goodbye Princess," said Firestar. He looked up at the white cat. "Goodbye Snowflake," She flicked her tail to acknowledge that she heard him and Firestar disappeared into the woods. Princess jumped onto the fence next to Snowflake.

"Why does he keep visiting you?" asked Snowflake.

"Who?" said Princess.

"That scrawny cat, Firesky," Snowflake replied.

Princess rolled her eyes, "His name is Firestar. He's our brother.

"So? He left his housefolks and joined those forest cats," said Snowflake, "They're dangerous! Smudge tried to visit Firestar and they attacked him. "

"They were just defending their territory," Princess protested, "ThunderClan has been having trouble finding prey since the fire and the twolegs keep cutting down more trees. Firestar said they live at Sunning Rocks now because their camp was destroyed."

Snowflake gasped, "Really? How's your son?"

Princess looked away, "Cloudtail says he's fine, but he's so underweight and he never visits."

Snowflake tried to change the subject. "Have you seen Bluemoon lately? He promised to meet me at the Treecut Place but he didn't come again. I haven't seen him in a week."

"How am I supposed to know? I don't keep track of every tom in the world," Princess snapped.

"Hey! I was just asking."

"You're always 'just asking.'"

Snowflake was taken back. "What do you mean?"

"You're always going on and on about him. I have better things to do than listen to you obsess about your mate."

Snowflake snorted, "Like you have any room to talk. 'I wonder what Henry is doing today?'" she mimicked, "'I hope he comes over here.' 'Here he comes! How's my fur?'"

"I do not talk like that!"

"Yes you do," Snowflake squealed, "'Guess what Snowflake? Henry and I made eye contact! I'm going to wake everybody up in middle of the night to tell them this pointless news!'"

Princess scowled and stormed to her twoleg nest. Snowflake jumped of the fence into her own yard. She walked to the door and yowled. The door opened and her housefolk stepped outside. He leaned over and ran his odd fur-less paw along her back. Snowflake purred and followed him inside. She walked over to her food bowl and ate the bland food. She preferred a juicy mouse, but it was almost leaf-bare and she could never find enough prey to fill her growing appetite. She went into the other room and jumped onto the back of the couch by the window. She stretched and yawned before lying down in the sun. She closed her eyes and let the restful sun warm her fur.

The warmth of the sun disappeared and a cold breeze blew through her long fur. The soft sofa was replaced by the cold, hard ground. Snowflake opened her eyes and looked around. Her twoleg's nest, along with everything she had ever known, was gone. The sky was covered in dark ominous clouds, and lifeless trees loomed over head.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" she called. Snowflake felt lost without even the stars to guide her. She saw a flash of red fur out of the corner of her eye. "Firestar?"

Suddenly, cats started yowling in the distance. Snowflake started running to them immediately. She was sure she had never heard those cats before, but they sounded so familiar, and she couldn't ignore their cries of mortal terror.

She seemed to be running in slow motion. Every paw step seemed to take a moon. When she finally got to the scene, Snowflake wished she'd run away when she had the chance. A large fox had a group of cats cornered. The cat Snowflake had mistaken for Firestar was fighting side by side a small injured tom.

A queen was behind the fighting cats, the bodies of her kits laid around her. Only two seemed to be breathing. A male kit was a few fox-lengths away from the queen while a tiny calico was hiding in a tree safely behind the fox. The breeze blew the kit's scent away from the fox, as if the wind itself was protecting the kit.

A long-haired cat wailed in agony beside a lifeless cat. Even without getting a good look at him, Snowflake immediately knew who the dead cat was.

Bluemoon.

Snowflake was frozen with fear. The queen met her gaze. The queen's terrified eyes were a mirror image of Snowflakes.

The fox snarled and snapped at the tom who leaped out of the way despite his broken foreleg. The other cat hissed and sunk her teeth in his ear. The fox yelped and jerked his head back, throwing the cat off. The fox sprung at the grey kit. "No!" shouted the queen. She sprinted towards the kit and shoved him out of the fox's path. The fox sunk its teeth into her neck before the queen had time to defend herself. The queen went limp in his jaw.

Snowflake's fear changed to anger. She hissed and lunged at the fox, but the moment she should have hit the fox, it disappeared along with the other cats. Instead of hitting the ground, Snowflake was sent tumbling into a river that wasn't there before. She struggled to get to the surface, but the current kept pushing her under.

Snowflake woke gasping for air. She was still at home. It was just a dream. There was no river there was no fox. Bluemoon was fine. Probably.

Snowflake sprinted to Bluemoon's house. It was a tiny, shabby building with peeling paint and a leaky roof. Snowflake ran to the small window that led to the basement. It was open, as usual. The window had been broken seasons ago and was being held together by some grey stuff that was sticky on one side, except for a paw-sized hole.

Snowflake stuck her head in the window; the room was cold and cluttered with broken twoleg things everywhere. A grey cat was lying in the corner of the room. "Bluemoon?" she called. He twitched his ear towards her voice, but he didn't look at her. Snowflake sighed with relief. "Bluemoon! I've been so worried! I haven't seen you in ages," she said, "I'm sorry I came here, but I had to find you. I know you don't want me to visit but I had to make sure you were ok. I'd rather take the wrath of your housefolk's evil friends than be away from you."

"He's gone," Bluemoon mumbled.

It took Snowflake a moment to realize Bluemoon wasn't paying any attention to her. "What?"

"My housefolk, Riley, is gone," Bluemoon looked up, his blue eyes were full of sorrow "I bunch of twolegs in blue gave him a shiny bracelet then took him away in a monster with flashing lights on top."

Snowflake heard a voice and the loud thumps of someone walking down the stairs. "Are you sure he's gone? Someone's coming."

Bluemoon's face lit up. "He's back!" he ran to the door and waited patiently for Riley.

The door swung open and an unfamiliar twoleg walked in. Bluemoon's excitement turned to horror. His fur was standing on end. "Run!" He bolted towards the window.

Snowflake hesitated, "Why? Who's that?" The stranger kicked Snowflake across the room. She screeched and bolted towards Bluemoon, who was already outside.

"Snowflake!" Bluemoon stuck his head back inside at the sound of her yowl. The twoleg growled and turned towards the window, but Snowflake beat him there. She tried to go outside, but her collar got caught on a twisted piece of metal.

"Help! I'm stuck," Snowflake shouted. Bluemoon bit her collar and tried to free her. The twoleg pulled her tail and the collar snapped as he pulled her inside. Bluemoon hissed and sunk his teeth into the twoleg's wrist. The twoleg bellowed. He pushed Bluemoon outside and slammed the window shut. The twoleg went upstairs and slammed the door behind him.

Snowflake ran to the window. "Help! I'm trapped."

"I'll find a way to get you out," he said through the glass, "I promise I will never leave you unprotected."

"Who was that?" she asked.

"That's Riley's friend, Noah. He hates cats," he said.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," she said sarcastically.

"He pretends to be nice when Riley's around. He's supposed to feed me when Riley's away, but he doesn't come very often," A dog started barking at Bluemoon. He gasped. "Listen, there's a leaky pipe in the corner, so you'll have something to drink. This place is crawling with mice, and if one gets stuck in a mousetrap, you'll get a free meal. Be careful watch out for-" Bluemoon was cut off by loud barking.

"Bluemoon I-"

Noah freed the dog and it chased Bluemoon. He ran towards the woods and disappeared down a rabbit hole. The dog barked again. A grey paw shot out of the hole and batted at the dog. Snowflake didn't think the declawed cat would stand a chance against the huge dog. The twoleg shouted at the dog and it ran to him. Bluemoon shot out of the hole and raced into the forest.

Snowflake felt a sharp pain in her belly.


	3. Fire And Snow

Snowflake slept behind the sofa. She heard someone tap the window and carefully crept out. Princess was at the window. "Snowflake! Are you ok?! Wh-"

"Shh." Snowflake hissed. She was happy to see her sister, but it wasn't the cat she wanted to see.

"Who are you talking to Mom?" said a voice from behind the couch. A black kitten and a ginger tabby kitten peeked out from behind the sofa.

"Go back to sleep Midnight. You'll wake you're sisters."

Princess gasped, "Kits! Why didn't you tell me you were expecting kits?"

Snowflake looked down at her paws. "You never trusted Bluemoon."

"Can I meet them?"

Midnight and the ginger kitten ran to the window. "Hi! I'm Sunny! Who are you?" said the she-cat.

"I'm Princess."

"This is Midnight and his sister Sunny," Snowflake said. Two more kits had come out to see what was going on. "The tortoiseshell is Cookie and the grey kit is Silver." Silver had long fur and a broad, flattened face and Cookie had amber eyes. The Twoleg started to come downstairs.

"Hide!" Snowflake hissed.

"I'll be back tomorrow," said Princess, then she was gone. The kits raced behind the sofa. Snowflake stood on the back of the couch, fur on end. The door swung open and Riley's 'friend' walked in. Snowflake hissed at him. He had weird wiry fur on his chin and a tiny white stick in his mouth. He dropped the bag of cat food by the bowl and walked back to the door. Midnight crept out from behind the couch.

He squealed when he saw the Twoleg and ran back to his sisters. When Noah was gone, Snowflake went back to her kits. Midnight was describing what he saw to his littermates. "He was huge!" He said, "And he breathes fire like a dragon!" Sunny gasped and Silver's eyes were wide. Cookie didn't buy it.

"Really? That's so cool!" Sunny exclaimed.

"He's lying," Cookie accused. "Right Mom?"

Snowflake laughed. "He isn't breathing fire. The smoke was coming from that little white stick in his mouth."

"Oh." Sunny's face fell.

"Go back to sleep, I'll be there in there in a minute." Snowflake went back to the window, searching, once again, for her mate "Oh, Bluemoon. Where are you?"


	4. Jungle of Secrets

Snowflake watched her kittens chase the mouse around the room. They were five moons old, and Snowflake couldn't take her eyes off them for more than a second without someone getting into trouble.

The mouse darted into a hole in the wall and Midnight stuck his paw in after it.

"Aww. It got away," Silver complained.

"Let's go play with Mom!" Sunny suggested.

"No way, I'm waiting for the mouse. It can't hide forever," said Midnight. Silver, Cookie, and Sunny ran to Snowflake.

"Attack!" Cookie shouted as she and Sunny pounced on Snowflake's back. Snowflake laughed and waved her tail around. Silver dropped into a perfect hunters crouch and eyed Snowflake's tail. Snowflake watched in awe as Silver crept towards her target. Silver pounced as Snowflake jerked her tail away.

"Fox dung!" Silver spat. Snowflake looked at her in shock.

"Where did you hear that?" Snowflake asked. She was always careful to never swear in front of her kittens.

"Hey guys! Look at this," Midnight was sniffing a wooden square with a piece of twisted metal on it. He stuck out his paw batted at the strange object.

Snowflake gasped and stood up quickly. Sunny and Cookie fell to the floor. "Midnight! Don't touch that!" It was too late; there was a deafening snap and Midnight wailed in pain. Snowflake raced to her son; Midnight's leg was crushed between the wood and the skinny piece of metal. Snowflake pried the mouse trap off her son's leg and franticly tried cleaning the wound.

"No no no," she said between licks as Midnight whimpered quietly. His littermates, who had been frozen in horror, walked forward and stood silently by their mother. Silver raced behind a Twoleg object and reappeared a moment later covered in cobwebs. She stepped forward and gave a wad of cobwebs to Snowflake. Snowflake wrapped the cobwebs around Midnight's leg. She was too troubled to wonder how Silver knew to bring cobwebs.

"Is Midnight going to die?" asked Sunny.

Snowflake didn't reply. Cookie walked over and laid by him. Her sisters followed her lead. Snowflake didn't know how long they laid there- it could have been moons. Eventually, the kittens drifted to sleep. Midnight's breathing was growing shallower. Snowflake looked down at the tiny runt; he was only half the size of his sisters but had twice as much courage. Part of her thought no matter how much he fought to live, it wouldn't be enough. He needed a vet desperately.

Snowflake couldn't leave her son here to die. She stood up, careful not to disturb her kittens, and walked to the window. She pressed her paw against the edge of the hole and heard a faint crack as the glass started to chip away.

"What are you doing?" asked Silver. Snowflake jumped, and winced as the glass cut her paw.

"Nothing, go back to sleep." Snowflake ignored the pain in her paw and kept working.

"I can't sleep," said Silver. Snowflake didn't even turn.

"Lay down and close your eyes," Snowflake struggled to hide the irritation in her voice.

"Sunny thinks it's her fault," Silver said it like it was an explanation to why she couldn't sleep.

"What's her fault?"

"Sunny think it's her fault Midnight was injured." Snowflake stopped working. Her anger vanished as Silver continued. "She thinks that if she hadn't suggested we play with you and if we had waited for the mouse, he wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"How do you know?"

Silver looked uncomfortable, "She… uh… told me."

Snowflake was quiet. She was sure that Sunny was still asleep.

"Can you tell me a story?"

Snowflake was caught by surprise. "What?"

"Ye- I mean… Princess says you're good at telling stories," Silver said. "Can you tell us one?"

Snowflake hesitated.

"Please?"

Snowflake looked at the hole, it wasn't big enough for her to fit through, but it would have to do. "Alright, one story then you must try to get some sleep." She went to her kittens. Silver ran ahead to wake Midnight, Cookie, and Sunny.

"Some cats live with Twolegs, others live alone, but some live together in the wild. These forest cats are called the warriors," Snowflake began. Her daughters listened intently, but Midnight had fallen back asleep. "The warriors live in four clans; WindClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan. The clans are guided by StarClan."

"What's Starclan?" asked Sunny.

"Starclan are their warrior ancestors," Snowflake explained. "They guide the warriors and give the leader nine lives."

"The warriors get nine lives?" asked Cookie.

"No, just the leaders," said Snowflake.

"Cool!" said Sunny.

"I wish we could be warriors," Silver sighed. Snowflake thought of Princess's son, Cloudtail. Princess had given her oldest son to Firestar when he was just a kit. Cloudtail was safe and visited her from time to time. He had four littermates, but they were taken by Twolegs and Princess never saw them again.

"Of course you can," Snowflake decided. They'd be well protected in the clans. "Do you want warrior names?"

"Yay!" Sunny could barely contain her excitement.

"What's so special about a warrior's names?" asked Cookie. Sunny dramatically sighed impatiently and Silver glared at her.

"A Warrior's name has two parts," Snowflake explained. "The second part of their name changes. The leaders of the four clans have names ending in 'star', kittens' names end in 'kit', apprentices' names end in 'paw', and when apprentices earn their warrior names their name changes again."

"Does the first part of their name ever change?" asked Cookie.

"Sometimes; Bluestar changed Whiteeye's name to One-eye because she was blind in one eye," Snowflake explained.

"That's terrible!" Silver's eyes widened.

"So can we have warrior names or not?" Sunny demanded impatiently.

Snowflake chuckled. "Alright, your name can be Sunnykit."

"Awesome!" Her green eyes shone brightly.

Snowflake sighed. They were so interested in the warriors, they'd all but forgotten their injured brother. "Silver, you'll be Silverkit and Cookie's name is Cookiekit."

"But I don't want to be Cookiekit," she pouted."Cookie is a twoleg word."

Sunnykit's face fell. "Yeah so is sunny."

"I thought you liked your name," said Snowflake.

"I changed my mind," said Sunnykit.

Snowflake rolled her eyes. "Would you rather be called Sunkit?"

"Yep," She said.

"Then that will be your name." Sunkit sat up straight and beamed. Snowflake looked at Cookiekit. "Would you rather be called Rosekit than Cookiekit?" The tortoiseshell nodded. "Then your name will be Rosekit."

Rosekit sat up proudly, she was trying to be calm, but her amber eyes gave away her excitement.

Silverkit opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated and closed her mouth again.

"What's wrong Silver… kit?" asked Snowflake.

Silverkit looked down at her paws. "Nothing," she mumbled.

"If you want to change your name too, tell me," Snowflake said. "I promise I won't name you anything cruel like One-eye."

"No, I like my name," said Silverkit. She looked up at her mother. "What about Midnight?"

Everyone was silent. All eyes were on Snowflake. Even Sunkit was quietly waiting for an answer. When Snowflake finally found her voice, she lied, "You picked your names so it wouldn't be fair if I gave him his warrior name without his opinion." She didn't have the heart to tell her kits the truth. She changed the subject. "Do you want to hear another story?"

"Duh," Sunkit said, but even she wasn't as enthusiastic as before. They laid beside Midnight and waited for Snowflake to begin. She stayed up all night telling her kits the stories she had heard Cloudtail and Firestar tell Princess. She told them about Cloudtail leaving camp and catching his first prey when he was a kit, Greystripe and Silverstream's forbidden love, how Firestar became leader of Thunderclan. She was getting to the part where Cloudtail helped Brightheart become a warrior when they finally fell asleep. Snowflake avoided telling them anything that would scare them.

Snowflake carefully picked up Midnight. She paused to make sure everyone was still asleep before carrying him to the window.


	5. Rising Blizzard

Princess came at dawn, before any of the kits woke up. She gasped when she saw Midnight. "What happened?"

"He got caught in a mouse trap." Snowflake gently pushed him through the hole in the window she had made the night before.

"What are you doing?" asked Princess.

"Give him to your housefolk. They'll take him to the vet."

Princess hesitated. "If they take him, they won't bring him back."

"Your housefolk will make sure he goes to a good home," said Snowflake. "Please, I'd rather he be safe and healthy, than die here with me."

Princess was quiet.

"Please take him," pleaded Snowflake. "I can't let my son die."

Princess picked him up carefully and carried him away. Snowflake watched Princess fade into the distance, carrying her son away from her forever. She hoped he hadn't lost too much blood, and even if he didn't, Princess's housefolk might not even be home…

Snowflake pushed the thought away; she couldn't afford to think of all the things that could go wrong, like Noah freeing the dog. She watched her daughters sleep peacefully it the corner. Sunkit stretched in her sleep and stuck her paw in Rosekit's face, who sneezed in response. Silverkit flexed her claws in her sleep, and Snowflake wondered what she was dreaming of.

Snowflake jumped when she heard a tap at the window. "Well, what happened? Is he ok?" she asked franticly.

"I gave him to my housefolk," Princess said quietly.

"Is he ok?" Snowflake repeated.

Princess looked down at her paws. "He didn't even move when my housefolk picked him up. I'm afraid I was too late."

Snowflake walked away from the window without waiting for Princess to leave.

"I'm sorry," Princess called mournfully. "I did everything I could."

Snowflake went to the corner of the room, farthest away from her daughters, to mourn.

She didn't know how much time passed- it could have been moons- but eventually her daughters woke up.

"Mom?" said Sunkit. Snowflake didn't reply.

"Where's Midnight?" asked Silverkit. Snowflake knew she couldn't answer without crying.

"Mom's just tired," Rosekit said nervously. "She stayed up all night telling us stories so now she needs some rest. That's all." Rosekit sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anything.

"Let her sleep," said Silverkit. Snowflake heard their paw steps as they walked across the room. They whispered to each other, too soft for Snowflake to hear. She heard the scraping of their claws as they climbed something before Silverkit mewed, "Ouch! My fur's caught!"

"Shh! Be quiet. You'll wake Mom." said Rosekit. Snowflake heard more paw steps, then everything was quiet.

Snowflake was grateful that they were trying to let her sleep, and tried to enjoy the rare silence, but she had a nagging suspicion that something wasn't right. They had never been quiet for this long before. Sunkit couldn't sit still if her life depended on it.

Snowflake sat up and looked around. They were nowhere in sight. "Kits?" she called. "Where are you?" She searched the room franticly. They were nowhere to be found. A patch of grey fur caught her eye. A lock of Silverkit's fur was caught in the same place Snowflake's collar had. "Oh no." Snowflake ran to the window. Outside there was a trail of Princess's paw prints in the mud, but right next to them were three smaller tracks leading in the opposite direction.

Snowflake tried to shove her way through the hole, but it was too small. She grabbed a piece of the grey stuff that flapped around in the wind, and jerked her head back until the stuff started to come off. She yanked harder until the strip was limp in her mouth. A large piece of glass came off with it. Snowflake tried to go through again. The glass cracked and cut her, but Snowflake ignored the pain. It was the first time she had been outside in seasons, and she was momentarily distracted by her surroundings. She thought of her missing kits and the excitement of being outside again vanished.

The tracks lead towards Treecut Place. Every few fox-lengths one trail would dart off to the side before circling back to the others. Only one set of tracks stayed on path. She followed the tracks until they disappeared at a Thunderpath. A monster roared past and Snowflake coughed then sniffed the air. Her kits' scent was masked by the odor of the car, but it was there. She dashed across the road.

"Sunkit! Silverkit! Rosekit!" she called.

"Help!"

Snowflake ran towards the sound of her kits' cries. She couldn't help but notice how familiar it all seemed, as if this had happened before. Snowflake remembered the dream she had the day she was trapped…

"Snowflake!" shouted a familiar voice. Snowflake's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name. She lost her footing as the handsome tom tried to catch up. "Snowflake wait!"

"I have to save my kits!" said Snowflake. Their mews were coming from a Twoleg nest. There was a giant square hole in the side of the house, inside of which a monster. Her housefolk had a similar pet monster, or 'truck' as they called it.

The three kits were cornered by a large dog. Snowflake hissed and scratched his leg. The dog growled and turned on her while the kits ran away from the beast.

"I'll distract him. Go!" said Bluemoon. Snowflake ran under the truck as the kits jumped into a Twoleg bag. Her mate stood on his hind legs and batted at the dog's nose. It yelped in surprise and snapped at him, but he jumped out of the way.

A Twoleg entered the room and opened the side of the truck and tossed the bag inside. Bluemoon sprinted in between her legs and ran out of the garage. The dog knocked over the Twoleg, who growled in frustration, and ran after the tom. The Twoleg stood up and brushed the dog's fur off the pelt it was wearing.

Snowflake heard the dog fighting the tom fiercely. She took advantage of the distraction and crept closer to the open side of the monster. "Kits!" she called. The Twoleg growled and kicked Snowflake away as she climbed into the truck. The side slammed shut and the monster roared to life. Snowflake leaped onto the back and peeked in the window. Sunkit stuck her head out of the bag and ran to her mother with Silverkit and Rosekit at her heels.

Suddenly, the fight outside stopped. The monster started to move and when it backed out of the garage, Snowflake got a good look at the outcome of the fight. Bluemoon was lying motionless on the side of the Thunderpath. A large gash was in his neck where the dog had bit him and his grey fur was stained red.

"Bluemoon!" shouted Snowflake. She heard her kits pawing at the window. Their eyes were wide and filled with terror. Snowflake looked back at her mate one last time before turning to her kits. "Don't worry," she said through the glass, "I will save you."

The truck started to pick up speed and carried her further and further away from her mate. Snowflake crouched down to avoid the wind blowing through her fur. Eventually, the truck came to a stop. The Twoleg climbed out and left the door open. Snowflake hopped out and ran to the door.

"If you little fleabags don't get over here now, you're going to wish that dog _had_ attacked you," Snowflake growled, making no attempt to hide her anger. Silverkit launched herself out of the bag at the sound of her mother's voice. Sunkit and Rosekit were right behind her, though Sunkit stayed about a tail-length away, as if she was afraid of what Snowflake's threat might entail. "Follow me." She led them into a ditch, and looked around. The rocky road stretch as far as she could see in either direction; across the thunderpath was nothing but fields with plants growing in even rows. Behind her was a large forest. Snowflake's heart sank; she knew she had never been here before, and there was no way she would ever find her way home. She hadn't been home in five moons anyway; her housefolk had probably gotten another cat. She thought of Bluemoon's sacrifice and turned to her kits. "What were you thinking?" she hissed. They shrank under Snowflake's glare.

"I'm sorry," Sunkit whispered.

"We were looking for Midnight," Rosekit said. "We thought he was kidnapped by Shadowclan."

Snowflake's anger vanished.

"We were looking for him but then we got distracted and lost…" Silverkit said. She tried to flatten her long fur, which made her look like a porcupine.

"A dog attacked us, and-"

"And we were eaten by a monster!" Sunkit cut off Rosekit, who gritted her teeth.

Snowflake started to groom her kits. "It's ok," she crooned. "You're safe now."

"What about Midnight?" asked Rosekit.

Snowflake sighed; they had the right to know the truth. "Midnight's gone."

"Where is he?" asked Silverkit.

"He's dead," Rosekit said sadly.

"What?" Silverkit looked at Snowflake, as if she was waiting for her to say Rosekit was wrong. "No he's not."

"I'm sorry Silverkit, Rosekit is right." Snowflake's voice cracked.

Silverkit opened her mouth to argue, but she was interrupted when a monster roared past. The kits jumped and Silverkit resembled a pinecone again.

"Don't worry. The monsters won't hurt you. They never leave the Thunderpath." She pointed at the road.

"Why not?" asked Rosekit.

"Because they're stupid, stupid," Sunkit replied.

"Come on; let's go to the woods," Snowflake said.

"Cool!" Sunkit raced ahead.

Silverkit hesitated. "But kits aren't supposed to go into the woods until they're apprentices."

"Then I guess it's time for you to be apprenticed," Snowflake said. Sunkit whirled around and raced back to Snowflake, skidding to a stop and crashing into Silverkit, who hissed in protest. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior names, you will be known as Sunpaw, Silverpaw, and Rosepaw. I will mentor all three of you and I will pass down all I know about the warriors on to you."

"Wow!" exclaimed Sunpaw.

"Can we go into the woods now?" asked Rosepaw.

"Sure, but follow me." Snowflake shot a stern look at Sunpaw.

"Why're you looking at me?" Sunpaw asked innocently.

"Come on let's go," said Silverpaw. Snowflake walked into the woods with her kits by her side.


End file.
